Castration is performed on millions of male beef calves annually. Without analgesia, it is a major source of preventable acute and chronic pain.
Calf castration causes unambiguous and significant pain. The behavioral and physiological evidence — reduced feed intake, abnormal posture, elevated stress hormones, and aberrant movement — demonstrates acute suffering followed by prolonged sub-acute discomfort. Simple, affordable interventions including local anesthetic before the procedure and NSAID administration for post-operative pain control substantially reduce this suffering. The economic cost of analgesia is minimal relative to cattle values. Regulatory requirements for pain relief during castration are in place in parts of Europe and are expanding — consumer and industry pressure can accelerate this progress in other regions.